Review – Raging Bull

Boy did this one ever give rise to a slew of clichés. But in a sports movie – a boxing movie to be more precise – I suppose clichés are stock in trade. Martin Scorcese directs Robert DeNiro as Jake LaMotta, making the boxer into an archetypal mook. This is mostly an actor’s picture, particularly with DeNiro’s legendary weight gain to more accurately portray the subject’s physical and mental decline. On the technical side, this features some stunningly good visual work but some of the most aggravating sound mix I’ve ever seen (I hope the blend of whispered dialogue and screaming fight sequences were just a problem with my TV set, because constantly ramping the volume up and down got a little annoying after awhile). I suppose this isn’t exactly the most flattering picture ever made about Italian Americans, and the protagonist comes across as more pathetic than tragic. But overall it’s a great movie. Worth seeing